Reflection 6712 Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

Alan November states that “educators can harness the power of the Internet to get their message out and to empower students to become more actively involved in managing their own learning.” (November, 2008, p3) However, like anything else, students must learn how to use this “powerful technology” (November, 2008, p2) correctly. Educators should not take for granted that students already know how to search, decode and read on-line content for comprehension. For example, one way to prepare students for web literacy is to teach and model an internet inquiry strategy called Quest. Quest stands for Questioning, Understanding, Evaluating, Synthesizing and Transforming. (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p.51)


The most striking revelation I experienced during this course is that information is already out there (on the internet) waiting to be accessed, and it is our job as educators to teach students how to sift through the good, the bad and the ugly. In other words, in the past we could count on the fact that the information was correct and accurate when using our class text books because the editors and publishers had already done the evaluating and validating of the information contained in the text ahead of time for us. Today, anybody can publish anything to the internet, and it is important to teach students how to evaluate and synthesize this data before they use it for personal and educational use. “All students need a specific skill set in order to interact with the abundant amount of information available at their fingertips.” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009) According to Dr. Douglas Hartman, literacy is evolving,” our past was rooted in book culture, but our future will be rooted in on-line and digital media.” (Laureate Education Inc., 2009)

Going forward, the knowledge and experience I learned by creating a unit plan that included 21st century literacy strategies such as questioning, synthesizing and communicating, will help me enhance current lessons and develop future lessons that will be much more streamlined and all inclusive. My lesson plans will be written with activities in place to focus the students at the start of a lesson, take them through searching for information more efficiently, walk them through synthesizing and analyzing the data, and then sharing the knowledge through communication. This is a workflow that can be used as a guide no matter what the lesson is about.

One development goal that I would like to pursue as a result of this class is to begin an online collaborative partnership, using a wiki, with students and teachers from another school district. I think that students would enjoy working together, and this type of learning environment will help to prepare students sharpen their collaborative skills and get them used to sharing information in readiness for a global collaborative workforce. In order to prepare for this project I will need to locate a school that is willing to partner up with me, and that has the necessary equipment such as internet access, parental permission, and netiquette safety guidelines in place. However, before going live, I would probably complete a mini assignment with just my class as practice, so students can get familiar with the wiki application, and give me an opportunity to look for loopholes or areas that need addressing before the actual school to school collaboration project begins.


References:

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program 2. New Literacies. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

November, A., (2008) Web Literacy for Educators. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Reflection - Final Blog Post for Walden Class 6711

At the beginning of this class, I wrote a personal learning theory which supported Garner’s multiple intelligence model, in that every individual has their own area of strength when it comes to how they learn. Some are visual learners, some are auditory learners, and still others are kinesthic learners. (Lever-Duffy & Macdonald, 2008, p.24) I still believe that to be successful at teaching, an instructor needs to change their delivery style in order to reach all the multiple intelligences in the classroom. However, after reading about several different learning styles in this course, I now believe the ideal method of teaching would be to have a teaching style that is multi-faceted so as to target all learning styles, but at the same time engaging so that students buy into the lesson and become actively immersed in the learning. Dr. Orey stated in one of our DVD video’s that “people learn best when they build stuff, such as an external artifact or something they can share with others.” (Laureate Education, Inc. 2009a) Dr. Orey called this theory of “building stuff” the constructionist learning theory. (Laureate Education, Inc. 2009a) Therefore, when asked how I could modify my instructional style to make it even more effective, I would have to say that one way would be to change my personal learning theory to integrate a requirement for my students to construct artifacts that reflect their learning when appropriate.

One immediate adjustment I would like to make to my instructional practice is to use Web 2.0 technology as learning tools for students. Dr. Orey describes learning tools as digital technology such as Microsoft applications, Web 2.0, and multi-media, which students can use to enhance and support their learning. The goal is to create a learner centered environment (students are using the technology to learner) rather than a teacher centered environment (the focus is on the teacher and not on the students. One example of this is a teacher that only lectures). Two Web 2.0 tools that I would like to begin using with my students are concept mapping and voicethreads. (Pitler et. al., 2007) Concept mapping promotes long term memory by enabling students to use graphic images to represent content. Paivio calls this “dual coding” and it means delivering the same information in more than one format. According to Paivio, people can remember images better than text. (Laureate Education, Inc. 2009b) Concept maps can be used to learn vocabulary, or determine the organization of a website, similar to a storyboard. The second instructional tool Voicethreads is a tool that can reinforce and review prior learning while building something to share with others. It is a great collaboration tool as well as an alternate way to “dual code” by using graphics and text to establish long term memory retention, leading to real learning rather than memorization.

Two long term goals that I would like to make to my instructional practice regarding technology is to involve students in demonstrations rather than just having a show and tell led by me. I am in the process of ordering a student response system which will allow for continuous interactivity during classroom lecture, review and demonstrations. I am excited to have this equipment and looking forward to using it to engage my students even more. The second long term goal is to develop lessons that utilize dual coding. I would like to add “extension” sections to my lesson plans to have alternate ways of teaching the same lesson using methods other than just text. For example, having students find graphics that will reflect technology vocabulary that they are learning for a particular week, or have them select 8 out of 15 technology terms and have them write sentences reflects that true meaning of the term, and adding a graphic image by each sentence to support it visually.



Sources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Cognitive Learning Theories. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Instructional Tools vs. Learning Tools. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Voicethread

As part of my assigment this week, I was required to create a voicethread based on a need, problem or situation that I am faced with as a teacher.  My voice thread is about the problem of inappropriate and excessive use of cell phone and ipod use during class time.  I am also asking anyone to help in coming up with a way to involve students in the solution of how to cut down or eliminate this problem altogether.
click the link to view and listen to my voicethread....
http://voicethread.com/share/1032469/

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

In our resources this week, Dr. Michael Orey describes "Social Learning or cooperative learning; as the act of being actively engaged in constructing artifacts, as well as conversations in order to enhance understanding and learning from others." (Laureate Inc., 2009) Beaumie Kim writes that "knowledge is derived from interactions between people and their environments." (Orey, 2001) Connectivist George Siemens states that social learning is using technology to collaborate and share knowledge between groups of people. (Laureate Inc., 2009b) The idea of social learning is the opportunity to interact with the people around you and learn from their experiences and points of view. We are all unique, learn differently and all have different perceptions to share. "Two people looking at something together never actually see the same thing in the same way." (Orey, 2001) This is where the learning comes into play.

Pitler et al. state in their book Using Technology with Classroom instruction that Works, that because we are living in a time when society is forced to keep pace with technology, students need "to be prepared for the fast-paced, virtual workplace that they will inherit, students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively." (Pitler et. al., 2007, p139) There are a number of technology tools mentioned in chapter 7 to support social and cooperative learning. Creating videos using multimedia, employing multiuser games, completing web based inquiries, and applications such as Keypals for communications, all can be used to promote social learning by allowing students to collaborate and create with each other.

Dr. Orey talks about how important social learning is because students reach a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which he describes as "what the child is able to learn at a given time." (Laureate Inc., 2009a) He also says that by encouraging social learning, a child gets MKD and can then continue to learn. MKD is the acronym for "more knowledgeable others" which means "a child is unable to learn at this time without help from someone else." (Laureate Inc., 2009a) ZPD and MKD are good reasons to support social learning.

Social Learning is a way for students to learn from other people's perspectives, "bounce ideas off each other, confirm and validate their thoughts, a way to give each other encouragement, and achieve confidence from knowing that they may have the same trouble learning a particular thing as the next student, or that they have come up with the same answer as a result." (Laureate, Inc. 2009a)

I believe that to be able to succeed in society today; you need to be a well rounded individual, having the ability to produce in multiple ways, using both the virtual world and the non-virtual world, in essence being resourceful in the use of both technology and human talent.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Connectivism as Learning Theory. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Social Learning Theories. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Section: Social Constructivism, Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Constructionism in Practice

(image from phillevans.com)

This week, in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, I read about an instructional strategy called "Generating and Testing Hypotheses." This strategy is a method by which students create projects (constructionism) to explain hypotheses when faced with disequilibration.

According to Dr. Michael Orey, equilibration (external reality fits to what we know) is one of the building blocks of the Constructionist learning theory, the other three are assimilation (reality is made to fit ones own belief and understanding), accommodation (current belief is altered to fit external reality), and schema (own understanding). (Laureate Inc., 2009) Dr. Orey also goes on to say that Constructionism is "simply using whatever tool you have at hand and actively engaging students to create and build stuff." (Laureate Inc., 2009)

"Technology can play a vital role in generating and testing hypotheses because new developments in probeware and interactive applets allow students to spend more time preparing the data rather than gathering the data." (Pitler et al., 2007, p.203) For example, with data collection tools such as spreadsheets and the internet, students are able to gather information much quicker, create artifacts to "analyze and synthesize" (Pitler et al., 2007, p.211) data, formulate hypotheses, and then "share and compare" (Pitler et al., 2007, p.211) data results by using collaborative internet tools. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) provide an example of a middle school science class who wanted to know how much acid rain they were getting in their community. Students collected a variety of water samples, tested the pH levels in the water and recorded the data in an excel spreadsheet and then generated a chart to demonstrate their results. (Pitler et al., 2007, p.210) Students were collecting data, building an artifact, and using critical thinking skills to arrive at a conclusion to their hypotheses about acid rain. This is a good example of how testing for hypotheses does correlate to constructionism, as students are engrossed in creating some sort of container or project that supports their results.

Furthermore, project based learning (constructionism) as defined by the Buck Institute of Education, is " a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning essential knowledge and life-enhancing skills through an extended, student-influenced inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks."

References:

Buck Institute for Education. Project Based Learning, the online resource of PBL. Retrieved March 24, 2010 from http://pbl-online.org/

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Cognitive Learning Theory

[ image found at pkab.wordpress.com ]

According to Dr. Orey, the Cognitive Learning Theory is a three phase learning process in which a person receives information that gets processed and stored into short term memory, and then eventually makes into long term memory. In order to get information from short term memory to long term memory when it actually becomes retainable, a person needs to be able to connect each idea to every other idea they are learning. As stated by Dr. Orey, this method of connecting with what you are learning is called elaboration. (Laureate, 2007a)

In the text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski , present great ideas to help students achieve cognitive learning with the use of technology. One instructional strategy they recommend is cues, questions, and advance organizers. Advanced organizers are technology tools that “enhance the student's ability to retrieve, use, and organize information about a topic." (Pitler et al., 2007, p.73) An example of an advance organizer is a tool called concept mapping. Basically concept mapping is "a tool that is given to students at the beginning of an assignment to help students "make sense of the content when the information is not well organized in its original format." (Pitler et al., 2007, p.73) It is similar to an outline, except you are using graphic bubbles to design it instead of text format, comparable to a flow chart. Students can use images to insert ideas or concepts and link it to another bubble holding an idea. In essence, concept mapping helps the student connect their thoughts using graphics. Therefore, concept mapping is a great tool to use to initiate cognitive learning. The authors also provide other technology tools such as word processing, spreadsheet applications, multimedia and brainstorming software to help students organize their thoughts and promote cognitive learning.

Other cognitive tools introduced by the authors in this week’s readings were Virtual Field Trips, and Note Taking. A Virtual Field Trip is a web based tool that "provides a student the opportunity to go where they physically cannot." (Laureate, 2007b) It is a method in which students can generate an experience within the classroom, called an ”episode or episodic memory,” (Laureate Inc., 2007b) enabling students “to tie constructivist activities to that experience, giving them a base to make rich connections for information retrieval." (Laureate, 2007b) Furthermore, Note Taking is another strategy that students can use to "organize information in order to process” (Pitler et al., 2007, p.120) it more efficiently and effectively, so that it can be stored into long term memory.

In future assignments, I plan on using concept mapping when introducing a lesson. This way, my students will have an idea ahead of time exactly what they will be learning and why, because the mapping will help them answer the lesson’s essential question. The mapping will allow students the ability to focus their learning and organize the information in a way that will make it easier for them to understand, and at the same time, as a teacher, I will be able to determine by the progress made on the concept map who needs additional help with the lesson, and who does not.


References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2007a). Cognitive Learning Theories. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2007b). Spotlight on Technology – Virtual Field Trips. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Behaviorism in Practice

In my course reading this week, I read about two instructional strategies that relate to the behaviorist theory. The two strategies are called “Reinforcing Effort" and "Homework and Practice." Both these strategies integrate technology in the learning process, to give students more avenues to achieve learning and be motivate to excel.

"Reinforcing effort" is a method I already use in one of my classes. The class in which I apply this strategy in is Word processing. Students will complete various assignments and turn them in for a grade. IF a student wants to improve the grades received on their work, I allow them to redo the assignment for a better grade. I make it very clear to students that they will only receive the additional point if the rework is 100% correct the second time, and they can only earn half the points they lost the first time. (ie: receive an 84, redo the assignment correctly and receive a 92) by allowing them to do this, they are learning the concepts, getting a better grade, and it is still fair to those students who got everything right the first time around. In the text "Using Technology with classroom Instruction that Works" written by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski,(2007) the authors state that "effort is the wisest choice for someone who intends to achieve success or maintain it, as it is within an individual's control, and is the most important factor in achievement." (2007, p155) By allowing students the opportunity to have a choice in the outcome of their success, gives them the incentive to do well. They put effort into fixing their errors, and get immediate results by getting a better grade. At the same time they are given a second opportunity to learn the skill correctly and form good working habits.

Orey states, (2001) all "behaviors can be unlearned and replaced by new behaviors." Therefore, by allowing students to take ownership in their achievement and success, this allows students to generate new positive behaviors and promote intrinsic motivation. It teaches them that when someone really does put forth genuine effort, it pays off. Additionally, I use this strategy as a data collection tool. It allows me to be able to pinpoint specific weaknesses students may have if they repeat the assignment for a better grade and still do not get it right. I then take measures to ensure that those students get the additional instruction they need to achieve that particular skill.

In regards to the “Homework and practice” strategy, my school district has formed a committee to review how much homework is given out to students, whether it is manageable, and if it should be reduced. I feel that some degree of homework is good. Homework allows students to "review and apply what they have learned" (Pitler et al., 2007, p.187) outside of class. In some cases when homework is given the night before, it allows students the opportunity to get acquainted with the material, so when they come to class the next day they have been exposed to the material and are less likely to be lost during class discussions and lecture. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski,(2007) provide a wealth of ideas using technology in chapter 10 of their book that can aide students in doing homework. The authors provide lists of websites, software applications such as word and excel, and multimedia that students can utilize to reinforce skills and concepts. Methods of technology such as these, facilitate and increases learning in a creative and engaging way.

The key point to the strategies mentioned above and how they relate to behaviorism is to create lessons, supported by technology, that students will find value in and will be motivated to complete. Technology offers educators the means to engage students, differentiate lessons, and track their learning. At the same time, technology provides students with a means to work on skills that best meets their individual needs by using a variety of activities and tools " (Pitler et al., 2007, p.196)

References,
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler , H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.